Grand Rapids, MI

This is the first full day of my mini vacation. I made sure to walk EVERYWHERE.

The town is historically known for its furniture industry and later known as the hometown of former president Gerald Ford. I paid a visit to his presidential museum, just across from the hotel. I was too young to remember his presidency, but after reviewing this museum, it seems like nothing has changed from his era to the present day era of politics. Oil, war, scandal...and some of the same people in his cabinet were still around for Bush's administration including Cheney and Rumsfield. Even Bush Sr. was in Ford's administration. No wonder, the regime was much older than I had realized. I was amazed to see that Ford had inherited Nixon's cabinet and these people have had a long career in politics. I feel affirmed in my vote for Obama, definitely a big change was overdue. He has inherited a huge mess to clean up, a long conservative legacy put to rest, and get some fresh, innovative ideas to not only heal the damage done, but repair US relations with the rest of the world.

Grand Rapids always seemed a sleepy town to me, not much of a lively downtown, and it has worked hard to systematically replace it's gentrified architecture with a modern, more streamlined one. So far, I don't find it successful. It seemed to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Only a few 1900 era buildings remain and they have been restored and renovated to meet modern demands. They are the only ones that give the cityscape character and meaning... as depicted by this blip.